Wednesday, February 3, 2021 - Mission Baptist Cincinnati - Sermon #5 of our Winter 2021 Revival.
Dr. John Hamblin is our guest evangelist and he concludes the revival with a message entitled: "I Think Myself Happy" from Acts 26:2. Before he begins his sermon he presented our Senior Pastor Bill Rains with "The Sword Soul Winner's Award" in honor of 42 years of faithful service to our Lord. Congratulations Pastor!
Dr. Hamblin begins the sermon with the reading of Acts 26:2 where we find the title of this sermon: "I Think Myself Happy". This is the evangelist's life motto because it is a "billboard" for eternal life in heaven for the world to see and this should be our motto as well. Chapter 26 of Acts details Paul's defense before the Monarch Agrippa. Chapter 25 details Paul's misrepresentation, mistreatment and misunderstanding of his words and acts. Paul's happiness is therefore considered unusual by the world, but godly in spirit. Dr. Hamblin exclaims: “The mindset, mantra and mission of spiritually successful saints is they muse on those truths that make them shout especially in stressful situations.” The evangelist now lists three sermon points for our learning all found in Acts 26:
• My CONVERSION
Paul explains to Agrippa his CONVERSION testimony detailing how he was blinded by the brightest light while on the road to persecute saints in Damascus. This brightest light is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ! (Acts 26:14-18, John 8:12) Our happiness should lead us to detail in stark terms to others our own CONVERSION testimony!
• My COMMISSION
King Agrippa commanded Paul to stand and the Apostle immediately spoke of God's choosing of him for special service. His COMMISSION happened at the same time as his conversion and it also made Paul HAPPY! (Acts 26:19-23) When God calls us to service, this should be a happy occasion, after all, God is showing his plan personally for us. God passing a responsibility to us is an honor, not a chore done with looking to find an easy way out. Soul winning is the highest calling from God as a career choice to preachers and pastors but we all have a part to play. His calling to us many times includes sacrifices on our part. (Matthew 19:29) Should this be something we complain about? NO, we should be happy! It's a privilege, it's a payback and it's a priority! We should be happy of our biblical calling when we remember Our COMMISSION!
• My CONSECRATION
The Apostle Paul didn't hesitate to confess to King Agrippa that he was "ALL IN!". He wasn't about to disobey God. He knew his calling and he was determined to follow through with his Heavenly calling to preach the gospel first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. Again, we should be happy to present our bodies as a living sacrifice that God considers a reasonable service. (Romans 12:1) We shouldn't be ashamed to declare to anyone we know or have just met that we are "ALL IN!" We should "think ourselves happy" when we remember Our CONSECRATION!